separated and need advice on what i am legally entitled to.

the state is pennsylvania. first of all i am a low-income person. my husband and i separated in december of 1998. i stayed at my parents house for approx. ten months. during this period he lived in our house. he then asked me to move back into the house to take care of the doberman pinschers because he was having bypass surgery. i moved back in until we sold the house in august of 2000. we split the money from the sale of the house. i have been living off this money ever since then. i bought an old mobile home and used some of the money to do some badly needed refurbashing. the amount i got was 15,000 approx. 8500 was used to purchase the mobile home. also some was used to go towards my high utility bills, filling the kerosene tank cost 310.00 each time three times already this winter. my salary is approx. 10,800 a year. my ex is probably in the mid to upper 30,000 or maybe even 40,000 bracket. i am in desperate need of alimony or spousal support. i need to find a second job or better job but unfortunatly, i am suffering from depression and my dr. has prescribed anti-depressants for me a few times already, however i keep trying to get off them and end up going back on or not doing anything sometimes. i'm not functioning properly in my day to day living skills. we were together for approx. 10 years. he has a pension plan. also, the standard of living was much higher when we were togeter. he purchased a 30,000 van for me and now i am stuck trying to make the payments, along with all my other bills on 200.00 a week. please send me some advice on what your opinion is of what i should do. also, i forgot to say the reason we separated is a mid-life crises on my part according to a physcologist i paid visits to at the time of separation. also, there was some physical abuse early on in the marriage. the psycologist called in the state to give me an apptitude test. my comprehension was not good but it showed i would be best suited to office work. the state said they would pay for schooling for me but this was before the depression hit, and knowing my comprehension is bad and i am suffering with depression and usually sleep in in the morning i don't think the odds are very good for me at the present time for college level courses or having success with that at this time. i've taken a few college courses and ended up dropping out because i sort of got lost. i'm sorry if the details i gave you were a little mixed up in order, but i wrote things as they came to mind.

please help me with some advice.

My best advise, and it might be harsh, IS GET OVER IT. I don't mean that in a bad way. I went thru the same thing once, I had to pull up my bootstraps and just get on with it. Don't let everthing get to you and don't sweat the small stuff and the things you can't do anything about anyway. You've got a whole new oppurtunity in front of. Think about what you want most, devise a doable plan, AND GO FOR IT! Make no mistake, there will be hardships along the way. But in the end they will have been worth it. It took me a while, but now I'm remarried to a wonderful woman and we have three great boys and a buietiful grandaughter, and I have job I truly love. Try to find a support group in your area, it work wonders for me. Ok, enough preching. In your heart you know what to do.

Good Luck
MarkB
Indiana

[Edited by MarkB on 04-03-2001 at 12:54 AM]

If life gives you lemmons, make lemonade!!!

My best advise, and it might be harsh, IS GET OVER IT. I don't mean that in a bad way. I went thru the same thing once, I had to pull up my bootstraps and just get on with it. Don't let everthing get to you and don't sweat the small stuff and the things you can't do anything about anyway. You've got a whole new oppurtunity in front of. Think about what you want most, devise a doable plan, AND GO FOR IT! Make no mistake, there will be hardships along the way. But in the end they will have been worth it. It took me a while, but now I'm remarried to a wonderful woman and we have three great boys and a buietiful grandaughter, and I have job I truly love. Try to find a support group in your area, it work wonders for me. Ok, enough preching. In your heart you know what to do.

Good Luck
MarkB
Indiana

[Edited by MarkB on 04-03-2001 at 12:54 AM] [/b]

Dear Mark B.

Thanks for responding to my boo-hooing.

111111.